Thursday, January 27, 2011

Indian Payments Market Presents Tremendous Opportunity Says Mercator


The Mercator Map of India: An Overview of the Subcontinent's Payments Market

Boston, MA -- With 2.97 million square kilometers of land and 1.17 billion people, it is no surprise that the Indian subcontinent is drawing a lot of interest from payment companies worldwide. While reports of a growing middle-class may make this seem like a market ripe for the picking, India is a complex market that holds unique challenges and opportunities.

The Mercator Map of India: An Overview of the Subcontinent's Payments Market reportlays out an overview that covers outlines of the Indian banking, credit card, debit card, prepaid card, and emerging payment technology markets.

Although India has a growing technological industry and growing middle-class, nonetheless, compared to the size of its population, India still has a relatively nascent financial services industry. But the Indian government wants to see the country adopt electronic payments more broadly than it has so far.


"For those who understand it, the Indian payments market presents tremendous opportunity," Ben Jackson, Senior Analyst of Mercator Advisory Group's Prepaid Advisory Service and principal analyst on the report, comments. "Success will come to those who can find the right partners and understand the market and the regulations that government."


Mercator's latest research presents an overview of the growing Indian electronic payments market. Provided is an up-to-date overview that covers outlines of the Indian banking, credit card, debit card, prepaid card, and emerging payment technology markets. This report updates some of the information found in an earlier Mercator Advisory Group report entitled "India's Electronic Payments Future" that was published in May 2008 and also provides a wide range of new information.

Highlights of the report include:
The Indian payments market is underdeveloped, diverse, and fragmented, leaving a lot of room for growth. And due to its openness, it has become one of the hottest in the global payments market.
Though most of the Indian population does not have a banking relationship, it is a priority for the government to change that.
After several years of growth, the credit card market has begun to shrink. Whether it will grow again if the economy improves is an open question.
The debit card market continues steady growth as consumers prefer debit cards to credit cards and government policies promote debit cards.
Prepaid and emerging payments technologies remain nascent sectors of the payments market but are likely to grow as time goes on. 
One of the 12 exhibits included in this report:

This report contains 29 pages and 12 exhibits.

Members of Mercator Advisory Group
 have access to this report as well as the upcoming research for the year ahead, presentations, analyst access and other membership benefits.
Please visit us online at www.mercatoradvisorygroup.com.
For more information and media inquiries, please call Mercator Advisory Group's main line: (781) 419-1700, send E-mail to info@mercatoradvisorygroup.com.
Follow us on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/MercatorAdvisor.
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PCI Security Standards Council Opens Nominations for Board of Advisors

Wakefield, Mass., Jan. 27, 2011 -- The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), a global, open industry standards body providing management of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), PIN Transaction Security (PTS) requirements and the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS) today announced that nominations for election to the 2011-2013 PCI SSC Board of Advisors are now open.

The incoming Board of Advisors will represent the current roster of more than 600 PCI SSC Participating Organizations and will provide strategic and technical input to the Council, reflecting the varied perspectives of a diverse set of global stakeholders. The Council views this input as critical to the ongoing enhancement of PCI Standards. In addition to advising on standards development, the Board of Advisors plays an important role in bringing frontline feedback and ideas to PCI SSC management; leading Special Interest Groups (SIGs); and helping the Council fulfill its mission to raise awareness and adoption of PCI Standards. As a global organization, representation from EMEA, North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific on the Board of Advisors helps reflect a diversity of experiences and perspectives on the protection of cardholder data against security threats worldwide.

“Over the past two years, our previous Board has provided us with a wide range of perspectives, advice and actionable feedback. Many of the tools and resources you see from PCI SSC today, such as the Internal Security Assessor (ISA) training program, the Prioritized Approach and the Wireless Guidelines Informational Supplement, were developed with the Board’s ideas and input,” said Bob Russo, general manager, PCI Security Standards Council. “I’d like to thank the outgoing Board and to invite all Participating Organizations to consider running for a seat to share their unique industry viewpoints.”

To generate a broad range of input across a variety of stakeholders, 21 seats are available on the PCI SSC Board of Advisors, 14 will be open for nomination by current PCI SSC Participating Organizations. An additional seven will be appointed by the PCI SSC Executive Committee to ensure broad representation both geographically and across key stakeholder groups. To that end, elected seats will be distributed in the following categories: financial institutions (acquirers and issuers), payment processors, merchants (e.g. retailers, airlines) and others (e.g. technology vendors, industry associations, service providers). Only Participating Organizations are eligible to nominate and elect the Board of Advisors. Companies interested in becoming a Participating Organization may obtain more information at https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/participation/join.shtml .

The nominations process opens on Thursday, January 27, 2011. Participating Organizations interested in serving on the Board of Advisors are invited to self nominate one representative from their company. In order to do so they must provide a short description of the company’s payment card industry participation and information regarding why the company should be elected to the Board of Advisors. This information should be submitted via the nomination form accessed through the Participating Organization portal. The nominations process, which closes on Friday, February 25, will be followed by a voting period from mid-March to early April in which Participating Organizations can vote for their representatives for the next two year term. The new Board of Advisors will be announced in early May 2011.

“Barclaycard’s term on the Board of Advisors has been a great experience for me and my organization,” said Neira Jones, head of payment security, Global Payment Acceptance, and Barclaycard. “We have worked closely with the Council on a number of payment card industry issues, chaired a Special Interest Group and written papers which have been of great benefit to our key stakeholders. I encourage other organizations and payment security experts to actively participate in the Council to secure the payment value chain by getting involved in the Board of Advisors nomination process.”

The Board of Advisors is elected every two years. Organizations serving on the
Board since 2009 include: Bank of America Merchant Services, Banrisul S.A., Barclaycard, Chase Paymentech, Cisco, Citrix Systems, EPC, ExxonMobil, First Data Corp., Global Payments, JP Morgan Chase and Co., Lufthansa Systems, McDonalds Corp., MICROS Systems, PayPal, Royal Bank of Scotland, Tesco Stores Ltd., TSYS Acquiring Solutions, VeriFone, Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

The PCS SSC also invites Participating Organizations to attend a Council open mic providing an overview of the Board of Advisors election process from General Manager Bob Russo, followed by a live Q&A session with opportunities to address the PCI SSC.


To register for the Thursday, January 27, 2011 session, please use the following link:


http://register.webcastgroup.com/l3/?wid=0650127115534


To register for the Monday, January 31, 2011 session, please use the following link:


http://register.webcastgroup.com/l3/?wid=0650131115535


For More Information:
For more information on the PCI Security Standards Council, please visit www.pcisecuritystandards.org or contact the PCI SSC Secretariat for any questions regarding the Board of Advisors nomination or election process at secretariat@pcisecuritystandards.org.


About the PCI Security Standards Council
The mission of the PCI Security Standards Council is to enhance payment account security by driving education and awareness of the PCI Data Security Standard and other standards that increase payment data security.
The PCI Security Standards Council was formed by the major payment card brands American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB International, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa Inc. to provide a transparent forum in which all stakeholders can provide input into the ongoing development, enhancement and dissemination of the PCI Data Security Standard (DSS), PIN Transaction Security (PTS) requirements and the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS). Merchants, banks, processors and other vendors are encouraged to join as participating organizations.

Source: Company press release.


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Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona

Mobile World Congress 2011
(from mobileworldcongress on 1-27-2011)


Click the Image Above to Open the Mobile Congress 2011 Brochure
During Mobile World Congress 2011, Kaspersky Lab will present the very latest version of Kaspersky Mobile Security 9, which now supports Android and BlackBerry as well as the Symbian and Windows Mobile platforms. The solution provides reliable protection for smartphones against all types of mobile threats, blocking unwanted calls and protecting against malware for mobile platforms as well as preventing users personal data from being compromised if a phone is lost or stolen.... read more»


Important Information





UN Reports 2 Billion Net Users Globally


Number of Internet users worldwide reaches 2 bln: UN
(from Yahoo on 1-27-2011)

The number of Internet users worldwide has mushroomed to reach the two billion mark, the head of the UN's telecommunications agency, Hamadoun Toure, said on Wednesday. The number of mobile phone subscriptions also reached the symbolic threshold of five billion, the secretary general of the UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU) told journalists. "At the beginning of the year 2000 there were only 500 million mobile subscriptions globally and 250 million Internet users," he said.  As for the Internet, nearly 1 in three people in the world use it. Fifty-seven percent of those users are in developing countries.. ... read more»

See the Report





Internet Use Surpasses 2 Billion Globally

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FIS Announces .05 per Share Quarterly Dividend

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FIS (NYSE: FIS), a leading global provider of core processing, card issuer and transaction processing services, today announced a regular quarterly dividend of $0.05 per common share. The dividend is payable March 31, 2011, to shareholders of record as of the close of business March 17, 2011.

About FIS
FIS (NYSE: FIS) is one of the world’s largest global providers dedicated to banking and payments technologies. With a long history deeply rooted in the financial services sector, FIS serves more than 14,000 institutions in over 100 countries. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., FIS employs more than 30,000 people worldwide and holds leadership positions in payment processing and banking solutions, providing software, services and outsourcing of the technology that drives financial institutions. FIS is a member of Standard & Poor’s 500® Index and consistently holds a leading ranking in the annual FinTech 100 list. For more information about FIS, visit www.fisglobal.com.

http://www.fisglobal.com

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Payment Pathways Receives a Fundamental U.S. X2X Payment Patent




Electronic payments patent eliminates the payee’s privacy concerns and removes high-cost security requirements
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Payment Pathways, Inc. (PPI), a provider of privacy management solutions, today announced its award of Patent Number 7,831,490 by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for an Internet-based registry of openly accessible electronic payment addresses. Dr. Franco Modigliani (1918–2003), winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, co-authored this patent.
http://www.paymentpathways.com
“This recognition of our patent advances the state of the art in privacy management & protection. For the first time, a mom wishing to pay her child’s tutor can initiate an instant payment by only needing to know that person’s Greenlist ID.”
Its claims disclose a system for communicating trusted, routable e-payment addresses of payees to banks without the need for encryption or privacy. Mobile payments developers, banks, payment service providers or mobile carriers can use its business method to send instant payments between any two parties regardless of geography or payment system affiliation.
This invention, known as the e-payments Greenlist® registry, provides the user with a way to locate a virtual listing for payment addresses just as the “white pages” found phone numbers and physical addresses. Unlike current payment mechanisms – such as PayPal – Greenlist allows people and businesses to pay directly from their bank accounts without having to stage money somewhere else first.

The difference is that the Greenlist entry is only a pointer securely keyed to the actual financial institution accounts and routing information. It solely exposes the payment addresses of deposit-only bank accounts as bank account numbers are not divulged to merchants or payment processing networks.
“Our patent assures identity to permit trusted payments, anytime, anywhere and from any device,” said Richard O’Brien, President & CEO of Payment Pathways. “This recognition of our patent advances the state of the art in privacy management & protection. For the first time, a mom wishing to pay her child’s tutor can initiate an instant payment by only needing to know that person’s Greenlist ID.”
Greenlist registrars vouch that customers’ identity and public deposit-only payment addresses are linked accurately to their private bank accounts. Payments can now be sent irrevocably allowing recipient institutions to post ‘good funds’ the moment payment transactions arrive from the network, ahead of actual settlement. Markets for the Greenlist registry include P2P money transfers, small business bill payment, and ecommerce and a host of new mobile applications.
"Greenlist has real potential to extend the benefits that SEPA will be delivering in the Euro Area, by fostering faster epayments to consumers and small businesses alike. Implementing Greenlist is necessary to improve the safety and efficiency of payments that are the backbone of a healthy and resilient economy. Safe payments mean lower costs of economic activity and more growth. More and more thinkers and policymakers are appreciating the importance of these seemingly boring yet tremendously important basic infrastructures of our contemporary economies,” said Alberto Giovannini CEO of Unifortune SGR SpA and advisor to the European Commission.
“The Greenlist solution provides a unique way to simply and securely expand money movement to mobile phones while protecting the privacy of customer financial data,” said Margaret Weichert, Managing Director at Market Platform Dynamics.
About Payment Pathways:
Payment Pathways, Inc. (PPI) makes it safe to pay for goods and services electronically. Through its patented Greenlist registry, PPI improves the security of today’s electronic payment systems by routing trusted addresses of transaction participants to reduce systemic risk and accelerate money transfers. Payments to Greenlisted addresses are less expensive for consumers than traditional wire services. Greenlist can add security to any online payment mechanism and is more convenient than paper checks.
Visit www.paymentpathways.com or call 312-346-9400 for more information.

Contacts

Payment Pathways
Richard O’Brien, President & CEO, 312-346-9400
robrien@paymentpathways.com
Blog: http://greenlistid.blogspot.com
Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110126005345/en/Payment-Pathways-Receives-Fundamental-U.S.-X2X-Payment
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Everything Everywhere Partners with Barclaycard to Bring NFC Payments to Mobiles


Orange, T-Mobile and Barclaycard make NFC mobile payments a reality with 

40,000 retailers on board, summer launch

Read more: Orange and Barclaycard make NFC mobile payments a reality - Pocket-lint http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/38151/orange-barclaycard-nfc-mobile-wallet#ixzz1CFWJtWd4

Everything Everywhere, parent company of mobile operators T-Mobile and Orange, has announced that it is to partner with Barclaycard to bring Near Field Communications (NFC) payments to customer handsets, reducing the need for credit cards and cash.   Pocket-lint reports that the partnership signals the UK’s first commercial contactless mobile payments service and is due to be rolled out to customers by the Summer, possibly before July.
Photo Courtesy of the Daily Mail
Barclaycard and the UK's biggest mobile phone network, Everything Everywhere, which includes Orange and T-mobile, have signed a partnership to bring NFC Mobile to the U.K. The two claim it will be the the biggest revolution in payments since credit cards were introduced in this country more than 40 years agoRead more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1350709/iPhone-5-credit-card-Pay-shopping-swipe-mobile-phone.html#ixzz1CFIRLAk1


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CreditCall Introduces Contactless Kernel to Its EMV Product Range Supporting NFC and Wave and Pay



BRISTOL, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CreditCall has added Contactless.LIB, a full contactless payment capability, to its EMV Level 2 range of software Kernels. Terminal manufacturers and payment software developers can now quickly and easily integrate Contactless Kernel technology into their solutions to mitigate against the high cost of development and maintenance.

The fully featured Contactless Kernel enables acceptance of Visa contactless and MasterCard PayPass enabled cards in retail and unattended environments. It meets all current Visa, MasterCard and EMVCo standards and allows support for additional contactless card schemes such as NFC (near field communication). Contactless.LIB supports MasterCard’s PayPass M/Chip and M/Stripe in addition to Visa’s qVSDC and MSD functionality.
The first deployment of Contactless.LIB is likely to be in the transportation ticketing sector, where there are a number of developers working on adding Contactless capability to existing ITSO ticketing equipment and terminals.
CreditCall’s CTO Jeremy Gumbley stated “We want to ensure Contactless payment can be used more widely. The development of an independent Contactless Kernel will contribute towards an increased deployment of this technology as it provides manufacturers and payment software developers more freedom in choosing the best solution for their products. The development of a Contactless Kernel further enhances our EMV Kernel product line and demonstrates CreditCall’s technology leadership in the area.”
For more details, please contact us on + 44 (0)117 930 4455 or visit our Contactless Kernel website at http://www.emvx.co.uk/products_contactless_payment_kernel.aspx.

About CreditCall
CreditCall Ltd. (http://www.creditcall.com) is a specialist payment services provider and transaction gateway with global recognition for innovation in credit card acceptance. The company provides ultra-high reliability card payment solutions. These are deployed for e-Commerce, Mail Order, Call Centres, and virtually any kind of unattended terminal, including parking and ticketing machines, and self-service kiosks. Its mainstay product, the CardEaseXML payment protocol allows developers unprecedented ease in providing card payment on new and existing systems.
Most recently CreditCall has developed CardEase Mobile (http://www.cardeasemobile.com) the world’s first Chip and PIN payment app enabling credit and debit card payment acceptance on smartphones.

Contacts

CreditCall Ltd
Ingrid Anusic
Marketing Communications
Tel: +44 (0)117 930 44 55
Mobile: +44 (0)7968 600 419
Fax: +44 (0)117 930 44 77
Email: ingrid.anusic@creditcall.com
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/ingridanusic
Twitter: http://twitter.com/creditcall or http://twitter.com/cardease_mobile
Web: http://www.creditcall.com
Web: http://www.emvx.co.uk/
CreditCall Ltd
Merchants House South
Wapping Road
Bristol
BS1 4RW
UK
Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110126005976/en/CreditCall-Introduces-Contactless-Kernel-EMV-Product-Range
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Discover Ways for More Cashback Bonus Rewards



Discover Offers Cardmembers More Ways to Take Advantage of Cash Rewards

RIVERWOODS, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Discover announced today more seasonal opportunities for cardmembers to earn Cashback Bonus®, and to redeem those cash rewards with additional merchant partners or for unique cardmember experiences.
“We’re always evaluating and reinvesting in our Cashback Bonus program so that we’re offering the most value to our cardmembers.”
From January 1 through March 31, Discover Cardmembers can sign up to earn 5% Cashback Bonus on up to $800 in travel and restaurant purchases. The category is the first of four rotating categories that change each quarter, giving cardmembers the opportunity to earn 5%Cashback Bonus all year long. After reaching the $800 spending limit for the quarter, cardmembers will still automatically earn up to 1%Cashback Bonus every time they use their cards.
Other ways Discover is rewarding cardmembers and helping them to maximize their rewards experience include:
  • 5% Cashback Bonus: In addition to the travel and restaurant program, for the month of March, Discover Cardmembers have the opportunity to sign up to earn 5% Cashback Bonus on up to $200 in grocery and drugstore purchases.
  • Expanded Redemption Options: In addition to its extensive list of more than 140 partners such as Lowe’s, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Olive Garden, Discover will be adding new merchant redemption partners this quarter, including TOMS Shoes and NHL.com. Cardmembers also will be able to redeem their Cashback Bonus rewards for exclusive experiences.
  • ShopDiscover: Discover cardmembers already enjoy earning 5%-20% Cashback Bonus on purchases made through ShopDiscover, Discover’s exclusive online shopping mall featuring more than 200 top retailers such as Sears, Dell Home, and Barnes and Noble.com. This quarter, the site will offer more savings through new retailers like Golfsmith, Avalon Waterways, Dell Small Business and Viking River Cruises and some will even offer free shipping on merchandise purchased through the site.
“At Discover, we take great pride in our ability to provide a relevant and meaningful cash rewards program to our cardmembers,” said Dana Traci, vice president of rewards and product management at Discover. “We’re always evaluating and reinvesting in our Cashback Bonus program so that we’re offering the most value to our cardmembers.”
To learn more about Discover’s Cashback Bonus program and to sign up for each offer, please visit Discover.com or call 1-800-DISCOVER.
About Discover
Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is a direct banking and payment services company with one of the most recognized brands in U.S. financial services. Since its inception in 1986, the company has become one of the largest card issuers in the United States. The company operates the Discover card, America's cash rewards pioneer, and offers personal and student loans, online savings accounts, certificates of deposit and money market accounts through its Discover Bank subsidiary. Its payment businesses consist of Discover Network, with millions of merchant and cash access locations; PULSE, one of the nation's leading ATM/debit networks; and Diners Club International, a global payments network with acceptance in more than 185 countries and territories. For more information, visit www.discoverfinancial.com.

Contacts

Discover
Mai Lee Ua, (224) 405-3082
maileeua@discover.com
Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110126006187/en/Discover-Offers-Cardmembers-Ways-Advantage-Cash-Rewards
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Phishing Threats: What to Look Out For

BOULDER, Colo.Jan. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Cyber criminals often use a tactic called phishing to trick PC users into sharing bank account logins, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and other valuable information.
Phishing typically takes the form of spam emails or instant messages containing links to seemingly real yet malicious Web sites to trick people into divulging sensitive information. And once you take the bait, they can create fake accounts in your name, steal your identity and wreak havoc on your credit. The good news is once you know what to watch out for you can protect yourself and get the phishing protection you need to keep these criminals at bay.
What is Phishing—and What is Legitimate?
When it comes to online communication, it's often difficult to tell what is phishing and what is legitimate communication from trusted companies. Phishers commonly target – or "brandjack" – well-known, trusted companies such as Visa, Coca Cola and even Adobe's Flash technology in an effort to furtively obtain passwords and other personal information. As a general rule, banks, credit card companies and other businesses will not misspell words or use emotional language, scare tactics or urgent requests to respond. They also will not request that you send your account number, login or password to them via email or instant messaging, since these types of communications are typically unsecured and should not be used to transfer sensitive data.
Even if you receive an email with a link to a company's site, don't click on it. The link may take you to a false site that looks and responds like the real thing. Instead, enter the company's URL manually (the same one you use to manage your accounts). This will ensure you're at the legitimate site.
If you believe you're the target of phishers, contact the business the scammers are mirroring by phone to report the suspicious message—and forward the message, but do not download anything from the message, to spam@uce.gov. The Federal Trade Commission stores spam in a database and uses it to pursue law enforcement actions against people who send deceptive email.
Additional Phishing Protection and Tips
For added phishing protection, install reliable, powerful, up-to-the-minute security software, like Webroot® Internet Security Complete or Webroot Internet Security Essentials, which are designed to block spam and phishing attacks, remove malware and more.
Even with phishing protection and security software, it's important to be vigilant. To protect yourself further, keep these tips in mind:
  • Do not provide personal information to unsolicited requests for information
  • Only provide personal information on sites that have "https" in the web address or have a lock icon at bottom of the browser
  • Continually check the accuracy of personal accounts and immediately deal with any discrepancies
  • Do not open messages from unknown senders—and always delete messages you suspect are spam

Finally, use varied and complex passwords for all of your accounts. This will help mitigate the damage that can be done even if cyber criminals are able to get one or two of your passwords.

MacLean Guthrie
1-720-842-3164

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